Prairie Village Art Show

The Prairie Village Art Show only happens once a year! A must see.

SOFA Chicago 2015

January 13, 2016 by shelley

Chicago SOFA 2015

SOFA Chicago 2015

Ellen and I made our annual trip to Chicago to attend the VIP SOFA Show. Our VIP tickets come from artist (and good friend) Elis Gudmann from ten472 Gallery

I really like her latest works that combined charred wood with the etched metal…

Elis Gudmann artist

Elis’ bio:

Elisabett Gudmann is a Northern California based artist focused on creating works infused with color, texture, and form. While most widely recognized for her metal wall pieces, she is also an accomplished sculptor and often creates 3-dimensional works with her partner, Kirk H. Slaughter.

METAL WALL PIECES:

The complex and physically demanding process involves laboriously etching the metal to create detailed surface textures and imagery in relief. Unique and intricate patina colors are achieved by working with a variety of caustic chemicals, layering colors and often employing a reductive technique. Mostly conceptual in nature, her imagery evolves through layered complexity and evokes references to natural and man-made environments. Influences of abstract expressionism infuse her work, striking a balance between the abstract and the recognizable.

SOFA had a lot of interesting art:

SOFA Chicago 2015

This was completely done in those tiny seed beads!

SOFA Chicago 2015

These were glass objects!

SOFA Chicago 2015

and some “live art”

SOFA Chicago 2015

I alway enjoy the city of Chicago also and the Magnificent Mile was decked out in glorious fall decor

Chicago’s magnificent mile decked out in fall decor!

I find the architect and skyline of Chicago very picturesque.

And my all time favorite photo I took of Chicago skyline was a few years ago on a day the clouds hung so low the tops of buildings were obscured:

Kansas City Symphony

September 28, 2015 by shelley

Kauffman Center of Performing Arts, Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Symphony

The Kansas City Symphony kicked off another great year with a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner! I loved it!!

And apparently I was not alone…from the Kansas City Star:

“Last weekend, the orchestra began its fifth season in the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall, kicking off its action-packed year with another “Star-Spangled Banner” and vigorous helpings of European concert music, including Maurice Ravel’s mesmerizing Bolero.

The Symphony has been filling the hall with regularity. Its main classical series, pops concerts, family shows and series of happy-hour events aimed at attracting new listeners have contributed to unprecedented levels of ticket sales and revenue. A recent disc release — its sixth CD project for the audiophile Reference Recordings label — featured the music of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Significantly, the record also showed off the talents of Jan Kraybill, caretaker of the Kauffman Center’s huge Casavant organ, and two Symphony principals, violinist Noah Geller and cellist Mark Gibbs.

Geller and Gibbs also played major roles in last weekend’s season opener. The program’s focus on featured soloists from the Symphony’s top ranks represented an important reminder that this band is rich in individual talent even as it swoons and swells like a unified force under Stern’s direction.”

Looking forward to another great season with the Kansas City Symphony!

Program Kansas City Symphony

Kansas City Symphony

BYU Education Week 2015

September 27, 2015 by shelley

BYU Education Week 2015

The theme of the 2015 Campus Education Week, August 17–21, 2015, is “Lay Hold upon the Hope Set before Us: Which Hope We Have as an Anchor of the Soul” from Hebrews 6:18-19.

According to the class program, “In these trying times, it brings great comfort to anchor ourselves to Christ and feel the hope that His Atonement provides. President Boyd K. Packer taught, ‘As we move into the future with quiet confidence, His Spirit will be with us. There is no end to His power to bless and direct the lives of those who seek truth and righteousness’ (“The Reason for Our Hope,” October 2014 general conference).”

BYU Campus Education Week, which first began in 1922, is now one of the largest continuing education programs of its type offering more than 1,000 classes on education, religion, marriage and family, the arts, history, genealogy, communication, and much more. Classes are designed primarily for adults, although anyone age 14 and older is welcome to attend. The more than 200 presenters are faculty from Brigham Young University, instructors from Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, and other experts in their fields.

Neil Anderson Education Week’s devotional speaker

Notes from class of the 100 most important events in church history.

100 most important events in church history

BYU unveils donated painting ‘Treasures of Knowledge’ by artist Greg Olsen

Greg Olsen’s new painting Treasures of Knowledge

New painting by Greg Olsen in BYU’s Alumni Center.

The Museum of Art still had the spectacular exhibit of Gabriel Dawe an installation artist.

GABRIEL DAWE: PLEXUS NO. 29

I had to go check the progress on the Provo City Center Temple.

Provo City Center Temple

The Provo City Center Temple is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) under construction on the same site as the former Provo Tabernacle in Provo, Utah. The temple utilizes much of the external shell of the tabernacle, which was damaged in a fire in 2010.

My favorite Mount Timpanogos (sometimes informally referred to as Timp, is the second highest mountain in Utah‘s Wasatch Range.) could hardly be seen due to all the smoke in the air from the California forest fires.

Mount Timpanogos

Yes to Vincent Van Gogh at Artsy!

September 15, 2015 by shelley

Artsy’s website: All you want to know about Van Gogh’s Starry Night (Starry Night is part of permanent collection at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York

I love Vincent Van Gogh! Who doesn’t? So when I was recently contact by Diana from a website called ARTSY and asked if I would give a shout out to their webpage on Vincent Van Gogh (they had seen my blog on my visit to the VMFA “Virginia Museum of Fine Art”) it was a no brainer…”YES!” Go to Vincent Van Gogh!

VMFA Exhibit “Van Gogh, Manet, and Matisse: The Art of the Flower”

Here’s ARTSY’s link to Van Gogh.

First a little about Artsy. Artsy’s mission is to make all the world’s art accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. (You have to do a simple registration…but this is all at NO COST!) ARTSY is an art discovery platform whose mobile apps and website are frequently described as a “Pandora for fine art.”

They are also a resource for art collecting and education. But it is so much more…what a resource! They feature over 40,000 artists, they feature galleries from all over the world (over 600). They have auctions of incredible works of art. They are an incredible resource for art. For instance if you want to know about Vincent Van Gogh, you can go to their page on Vincent Van Gogh where you can read his biography, look at his works of art (for instance I love Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”)

Artsy’s Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

But not only can you see this great masterpiece but you can also see it in the museum where it is on display (this great work is on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam-see it here.)

It is a great resource to keep up on the news in the art world.

On Artsy’s website you can learn all about Vincent Van Gogh…read articles about him and his works of art, learn of shows where his work is being shown and see related artists. There is much to see on this website.

Artsy does not do this on just the classic artists but they do this on thousands of artists past and present! You can easily discover new and upcoming artists! AND if you are in the market they help you collect works of art…definitely spend some time exploring this website…